Still The One - Carrie Elks Page 0,40
smile. Why was growing up so damn hard? She hated the way she couldn’t fix everything for Zoe. It felt like history repeating itself. “It gets better,” she said softly. “Right now, I know it feels awful. But I promise you it won’t always be like this.” She laid down on the bed next to Zoe, smoothing her hair out of her eyes.
“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to live here any more.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Van pointed out.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to stay. You’ll leave again, and I’ll be left here with mom, and everybody talking about us.”
“What if I don’t go home?” Van asked her. “What if I stayed here and took care of you?”
Zoe’s eyes widened. “What about your job?”
“I’ve got a job here.” Van swallowed hard. “Tanner’s offered me one at the drive-in.”
Zoe turned on her side. The tears on her face had dried up. “Will you be selling tickets like you used to?”
“No. I’ll be setting it up and running it for him.”
“Wow. That’s a big job.” Zoe looked up at her, hope in her eyes. “Are you really going to stay?”
“Yeah,” Van told her. “I’m really going to stay.”
A smile broke out on Zoe’s face, Maroon 5 completely forgotten. She rolled closer to Van, circling her arms around Van’s neck. “Yay! You’re staying. This is so cool.”
Van hugged her back, closing her eyes for a moment. Had she really just agreed to stay?
Yeah, she had. And it was either the best idea she’d ever had, or the worst decision she’d made yet.
Right now, it could turn out to be either one.
Chapter Fifteen
Van scrawled her name across both duplicate contracts, sliding one into the envelope ready to hand back to Tanner, leaving the other on the table to file away later. It was almost nine o’clock on Friday night, and she and Zoe were the only ones in the house. Kim had gone out earlier, surprising Van with her blow-dried waves and freshly made up face.
“Don’t wait up. I’m meeting an old friend.” Kim had air kissed her, the strong aroma of her perfume with an undertone of gin lingering in Van’s nose.
“You’re looking better,” Van had said dryly.
“Don’t be mean. I’m trying to get better. You and Zoe have fun without me.”
That had been two hours ago. And Van still wasn’t sure if she was happy her mom was feeling better, or annoyed she’d left without even asking if Van was okay to take care of Zoe.
Though of course she was. She would have said yes anyway.
“What are you doing?” Zoe asked, walking into the kitchen in her pajamas. She opened the refrigerator and stepped back. “We have sodas,” she said, glancing at Van from the corner of her eye. “And chocolate. Can I have some?”
Van nodded. “Go ahead.”
Zoe grabbed a can of Coke and a Milky Way. “I love it when you go grocery shopping. You want some?”
“I’ll get something in a minute. You want to watch a movie?”
“I can stay up?” Zoe popped the can and took a long sip. “First you let me drink soda and eat chocolate, and now you’re not forcing me to bed before nine-thirty. Are you feeling okay?”
Van grinned. “I’m fine. I just want to spend a bit of quality time with my sister. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be in. Why don’t you find something good on Netflix?”
“Okay.” Zoe grinned. “Maybe you can make popcorn, too.”
“Maybe.” Van wiggled her eyebrows.
Zoe skipped out of the kitchen right as Van’s phone rang. She picked it up, frowning when she saw her mom’s number.
“Hello?”
“Is this Kim’s daughter?” a man’s voice asked. Van felt her skin prickle up.
“Yes. Who is this, please?”
“My name’s Graham. I’m sitting next to your mom at a bar. She’s not feeling well right now.”
Van glanced at the kitchen door. “What’s wrong with her?” she asked, keeping her voice low.
“Nothing to worry about. She’s just a little sick.” Graham cleared his throat. “She probably shouldn’t have had that last whiskey.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Sorry about that.”
Van closed her eyes, knowing exactly what this was. Whoever this Graham was, he’d been plying her mom with drinks, thinking she was a sure thing. “What bar are you in?”
“The Moonlight Bar in Hartson’s Creek. You know it?”
“Yeah, I know it.”
“I’d bring her home, but she’s not in a good way.” He gave an embarrassed chuckle. “I don’t want people talking about me like that.”
“It’s okay. I’m on my way.”
“Great. She’s at the